Snowflake - Outside the Lines
by blackfeatherangel
Summary: These are short stories of the characters outside the events of the books. The stories will take place all over the map. From before the series begins, in between books, and perhaps even past the ending.
1. Chapter 1

Armina pulls her hair back and ties it up as she looks at herself in her bedroom's mirror. She then grabs her bow and arrows and leaves the room, heading down the hallway and to the stairs. It hasn't been long since she was married, and even now, as she slides down the rail of the stairs, wearing pants and a shirt, and holding a weapon the staff give her strange looks. She knows, as she hops off the rails at the bottom and heads outside, that she isn't a normal girl. Certainly she isn't a normal queen. But, as she walks to the front doors of the palace, she finds herself once again unworried by their dislike for her lack of lady-like actions.

"Hurry!" Armina hears as she opens the door. Outside she sees Adelle waving at her from the edges of the forest.

"I'm coming!" Armina smirks as she runs after Adelle. The two head into the woods where they find themselves soon entering a fairly large clearing. There they see, to Armina's displeasure, Ajax sitting on a stump, cleaning his axe. "Adelle..." Armina frowns.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't warn you because I thought you wouldn't come out." Adelle smiles slightly. "It's been a while Armina. I can't start with Evan or really any of the others. Ajax..."

"I hurt them." Both look at Ajax as he stands. "More than you. And I can hear you two clearly. Quit talking about me like I can't."

"Sorry." Adelle smiles.

"I don't think I'm ready..." Armina quietly mutters so only Adelle can hear.

"Come on. We have to start somewhere. And I don't want to have a kid in such a hostile environment." Adelle places her hand gently over her slightly bulging belly. It's noticeable on her normally thin figure. "It may be hard, but..."

"I don't want want to... I just came out here to spar with you, I didn't want to see him again." Armina turns to walk away.

"Well, if she's going to be a stubborn fool then I'm fine with things staying as they are."

"I'm not a fool!" Armina spins around and glares at Ajax. "You're the fool!"

"Fool?" Ajax raises an eyebrow. "I got quite a bit of what I wanted in the end. How am I a fool?"

"Because... Because you are!" Armina shouts. "I can't be bothered to think of a reason!"

"Armina, calm down..." Adelle places a hand on Armina's shoulder.

"No! I still don't understand what happened to make you trust him! He tried to kill you!"

"I didn't want her dead." Ajax comments. "I figured eventually I'd get her to turn. She was just too stubborn to listen."

"You be quiet." Adelle says.

"Yeah yeah." Ajax shakes his head. "I told you this wouldn't work. No one wants me around."

"Then maybe you should try harder." Adelle retorts.

"No one wants me. Don't you get that?" Ajax sighs. "Get it through your skull Adelle. I had no problems with killing your friends, and even now I don't care about them. I just like you."

"Why did you marry him?" Armina asks, deciding to ignore Ajax. He glares at her and slams his axe into the stump he was sitting on. "I don't get it. You never explained it to us."

"What's there to get?" Ajax crosses his arms as he glares at Armina. "Perhaps I'm not as detestable as you think."

"What makes you think there is anything redeemable about you?" Armina growls.

"Stop it!" Adelle shouts. Both look at her. "Armina..." Adelle sighs. "I just... He... saved me. I had to spend time with him while all that happened. Just, over time... When we weren't fighting... it was..." Adelle runs her fingers through her hair. "We just talked, and fought, and eventually we reached... I reached a point where I was done fighting. By then we were with my father, and he would act as a mediator. We talked more, and started to get along, and... well... it just kind of took off from there. We had feelings for each other, and we just finally were able to look at them properly."

"I don't like it. I think that was stupid and..." Armina starts.

"You and Evan." Adelle interjects.

"What?" Armina glares at Adelle now.

"You hated him. You..."

"He didn't turn out to actually be evil! Ajax is a demon!"

"So is my father!" Adelle shouts. "And you liked him!"

"He didn't try to kill me!"

"To be fair, when it comes to you personally I only played around." Ajax yanks his axe out of the stump.

"Oh shut up!" Armina glares at Ajax.

"I just want to be clear." Ajax states with a shrug.

"You know what? You just need to disappear!" Armina takes an arrow and shoots it at Ajax.

"Armina!" Adelle shouts. Ajax smirks and slashes the air with his axe. The fire flies at the arrow, and the two collide, creating a cloud of steam.

"Really, I would have thought you'd have learned better from the last time we met. Your slow bow is quite useless against my axe."

"Armina, calm down." Adelle starts.

"No." Ajax starts walking towards them. "If she's so angry she'll just shoot at me then fine. She can fight all she wants with me. I'll be happy to oblige."

"Noooo..." Adelle groans. "Please no."

"I'm fine with that." Armina grabs another arrow.

"You two..." Adelle knows she can't talk sense into either of them. Armina shoots her arrow, and when its met with fire and creates steam she starts running. She jumps through the steam, prepared to shoot again, but Ajax is gone.

"Behind you." Armina is kicked in the back and thrown forward. A few arrows fall from her quiver. She quickly jumps onto her feet and spins around, glaring at the smirking demon. "Really, you're too slow. That was embarrassing." Ajax says with a conceited chuckle.

"You're a right pain." Armina growls as she arms herself with three arrows. She shoots them all at once, then instantly she does so again, angling her bow differently when she once again fires. The arrows leave trails of ice and snowflakes in their wake. Ajax decides to dodge them this time. He leaps into the air. His wings come out and carry him up. The arrows fly into trees and into the ground, covering everything in ice. Ajax drops out of the air above Armina. He falls down and uses his momentum as he brings his axe down on her.

"Enough!" A wall of ice appears between the two. Ajax's axe hits the ice. The ice cracks and melts, but Ajax jumps back, retreating from his attack. "Ajax, lets go." Adelle says as she turns to leave.

"Adelle..." Ajax sighs angrily. A lecture awaits him at home. He shoots a glare at Armina, then follows his wife, his wings disappearing as he does.

"Adelle! Why are you leaving?" Armina questions.

"Why should I stay?" Adelle shakes her head. "Maybe we can spar another time. For now... I just want to go home with my husband." She continues on her way.

"Adelle! Don't!" Armina stands there, baffled at what is happening. "Aren't I your friend? Why would you choose that murderer over me?" She gets no reply as Adelle and Ajax disappear into the trees. Armina sighs angrily. She pulls the last arrow from her quiver and shoots it at a tree across the field with an angry shout. The tree freezes, as well as the ground around it. A light snow falls from the branches of the tree. "I don't get it... He made our lives miserable, and he tried to kill us. Then all of a sudden she forgives him. And then she marries him! I... I don't... none of this makes sense. She can't expect me to accept this. No one else will either! That stupid angel..."


	2. Chapter 2

Armina has a chair pulled up to her open window. She sits in it and leans forward on the windowsill. Adelle hasn't contacted her at all in the last week, and suddenly Armina feels very lonely without her friend.

"Stupid angel..." Armina mutters as she looks up at the clouds. She hears the door to her room open and turns around. To her surprise she sees Ajax standing there, looking around. "What are you doing here?!" Armina shouts as she jumps to her feet.

"Oh, its just you." Ajax turns and walks out without another word. Armina stands there a moment, trying to find a reason for the unwanted intrusion. When she realizes one of her worst enemies is wandering by himself in her home she runs after him.

"Ajax!" He doesn't respond. She catches up to him and grabs his wrist. Ajax quickly twists his arm and escapes her grasp, then turns and looks at Armina.

"I'm not here for you."

"You can't be here! Where is Adelle?!" Armina shouts.

"She's at her father's place." Ajax shakes his head at Armina. "She got mad and went to his house to relax for a while.

"You can't just wander around here!"

"Whose gonna stop me?" Ajax smirks and Armina glares at him. "Huh, Queen?"

"Leave her alone." Ajax turns around to see Evan walking towards them, dagger in hand. "Why are you here?" Evan asks through gritted teeth.

"I came to see you actually." Ajax says.

"I don't want to see you. Leave." Evan stops right in front of Ajax. Armina frowns. Despite having a weapon in hand, Evan isn't as intimidating as Ajax is. He's shorter, and has a gentler demeanor.

"Too bad. I'm not leaving." Ajax smirks and Evan growls.

"I said leave!" Evan makes a quick flicking motion with his dagger and a gust of wind throws Ajax to the side and into a wall. "Get out of my palace!"

"Now now. A king should be a little more level headed." Ajax says as he stands upright. Evan goes to do the same thing again, but Ajax kicks Evan's hand. The dagger is tossed into the air, and Ajax quickly jumps up and grabs it.

"Give that back!" Evan shouts as he tries to grab the dagger from Ajax.

"No." Ajax steps back and holds the dagger up and out of Evan's reach. "Not until you listen to me."

"Why should I listen to a demon?!" Evan shouts as he continues to fail at retrieving his dagger. It almost makes Armina laugh as she watches her husband jump over and over, lunging for the dagger. Ajax switches the dagger from hand to hand, assuring Evan can't retrieve it.

"Because it concerns Adelle." At that Evan stops jumping. "Will you listen now?" Evan again grits his teeth.

"Fine." Ajax lowers his arms and returns the dagger. Evan quickly grabs it and puts it away. "What do you want?" Armina watches Ajax grit his own teeth, then sigh angrily.

"I... I came to... a-apologize." He says, surprising both Evan and Armina.

"Apologize?" Evan questions. Ajax crosses his arms and looks away from them.

"I... If it'll make Adelle happy... then... Yes." He forces out. He looks absolutely defeated as he talks. He's been fighting this.

"I don't accept." Evan says, then he turns and starts walking away.

"Wait!" Ajax uncrosses his arms. Evan stops and turns back. "I..." He's fighting for words.

"You don't mean it." Evan growls. "We don't matter to you. You'd happily throw our lives away, and I won't have any part in it!"

"You're right..." Ajax admits. "I don't want anything to do with you people. I've never liked humans... But... I've always had a soft spot for Adelle." He runs his fingers through his hair. "She matters to you people, doesn't she?"

"Of course she does." Evan replies.

"Then don't just walk away." Ajax again crosses his arms and looks away from Evan. He glances at Armina, but quickly decides on looking at a painting hung upon the hallway wall. "I... I don't care about humans... But I love Adelle, and she's right. Our child shouldn't grow up around hostility. He doesn't need any motive to become a demon. So... I... I want to find a way to settle this, at least enough for them..." Evan and Armina simply look at Ajax, unable to respond as their own guilt finally starts to grow. Their hatred is completely justified, and yet...

"I can't accept it just like that." Evan finally says, breaking the silence. "You twisted my father's heart, stole his soul, got me killed! You wanted us dead! I..." Evan looks at Ajax, angry and hurt. "You took something already broken and made it worse. I can't simply say I forgive you."

"That's fine. I didn't expect that anyways." Ajax uncrosses his arms and looks at Evan. "But for the sake of my family... P-please consider forgiving me." Ajax chokes out the last sentence as he swallows back his pride.

"That looks like it really hurt." Armina comments.

"More than you understand." Ajax hides his face in the palm of his hand. "So much more..." Evan and Armina look at each other. Neither wants to forgive Ajax for the monstrous things he did.

"We..." Evan starts, but he can't finds the words he wants.

"We love Adelle, and we'll love her baby." Armina says. Ajax and Evan look at her. "We don't want to forgive you. You screwed up our lives, and Evan died because of you. We almost lost Adelle because of your stupid poison. You were going to probably be the end of this kingdom." She sighs. "But we know that you're changing, hopefully for the better, and we know that you matter to Adelle. We don't want to forgive you, we don't even want you alive. But... We will try." Evan smiles at Armina, relieved she found the right words that he could say. Ajax seems a bit surprised, and Armina catches a hint of a smile. It quickly disappears though.

"Alright. That's all I wanted." He starts to walk away, trying to leave the palace.

"Oh, Ajax." He stops and spins around. Evan punches Ajax in the face, making Ajax stumble back a few steps and holds his face. "It's gonna be a long road to redemption." Evan says with a smirk. Ajax glares at him.

"Right..." He turns and continues walking away, deciding it's better if he lets this go.

"That was mean." Armina says with a giggle once Ajax is out of ear shot.

"I'm surprised I did that before you." Evan says as he waves his hand. "That really does hurt. You do more damage to yourself than you do to a demon."

"Come on, lets get something to put on that." Armina says as she walks over to Evan and pecks him on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." Evan says with a chuckle. The two then walk away, heading for the kitchen...


End file.
